Swazi Dispute Over Child Marriage Continues

The country's traditional leadership insist that child marriages are allowed under customary law despite the banning of such unions by modern courts.

  • Comment (2)

  • Swaziland:  Dispute Over Child Marriage Continues

    UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 29 January 2013

    The relief felt by health officials and activists several months ago at the apparent outlawing of child marriages now appears to have been premature, with Swaziland's traditional ... read more »

Photo: Siegfried Modola

The government announced it's intention to enforce the Child Protection and Welfare Act by prosecuting men who marry underage girls.

  • Swaziland:  Child Brides - Abuse Group Speaks Out

    Swazi Media Commentary, 17 January 2013

    The Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) has criticized traditionalists in the kingdom who insist that underage girls can be made to marry. read more »

  • Swaziland:  King's Man Supports Child Brides (opinion)

    Swazi Media Commentary, 15 January 2013

    King Mswati III's right-hand man Timothy Velabo (TV) Mtetwa said it is all right for under-aged girls to be taken into traditional marriages. read more »

  • Swaziland:  Child Marriages Banned

    UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 20 September 2012

    The practice of men marrying underage girls - which has been an accepted social norm for centuries but has been linked in recent years to the spread of HIV - was recently declared ... read more »

  • Southern Africa:  Amnesty's Report on Swaziland's Human Rights Record (document)

    Amnesty International, 12 May 2011

    An excerpt from Amnesty International's 2011 report, The State of the World's Human Rights: read more »

  • Swaziland:  A Culture That Encourages HIV/Aids

    PlusNews, 18 August 2010

    Anecdotal evidence that entrenched cultural beliefs among Swazis actively encourage the spread of HIV/AIDS has been confirmed by a joint government and UN report. read more »

  • Swaziland:  Facing the Culture Shock of Monogamy

    UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 21 July 2006

    Polygamy is enshrined as a man's right in Swaziland's new constitution, but women led by King Mswati's eldest daughter are having none of it, taking on the traditionalists that run ... read more »

  • Swaziland:  New Role for Men in HIV/Aids Fight

    UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 11 May 2005

    Health officials called it the largest gathering of males to ever attend an antenatal lecture in Swaziland, and a sign of the increasing participation of men in programmes aimed at ... read more »

  • Swaziland:  `A Custom Tied to a Lifestyle That No Longer Exists'

    Inter Press Service, 28 March 2005

    The custom of paying a bride price - referred to in Swaziland as "lobola" - is a longstanding tradition in this Southern African country, which is also home to Africa's last ... read more »



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  • abcshopping936
    Sep 25 2012, 06:33

    This post was deleted because it contravenes AllAfrica's commenting guidelines.

  • castaway5555
    Jan 16 2013, 12:03
    Report Abuse

    Just another way to further destroy the country's future by destroying young girls and permitting "rape." This kind of thinking may have been prevalent 500 years, or even 100 years ago, but times change, and cultures move on. How much better for Swaziland to face the future rather than grubbing around in the past to hurt women and debase men by giving in to their worst goat-like instincts. Shame on the king's man for even suggesting such outmoded and shameful behavior. It's 2013, and it's time to claim a brighter day for all Swazi citizens.